


Together

by peggy_hamilton



Series: Band Of Brothers Imagines [29]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 13:45:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20390671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggy_hamilton/pseuds/peggy_hamilton
Summary: Websters a bigger nerd than anyone can even comprehend, so are you. A little Shakespeare starts something wonderful.





	Together

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on my tumblr @justthinkingofwaystoavoidbusses
> 
> original request: Can you do a David Webster x Reader!Air Force Mechanic? I was thinking that David and the reader met each other when David noticed that the reader was reading Shakespeare. They then become very close through letters and eventually meeting up in Europe and falling in love. Thanks! - anon

You were on a rare break, you’re commanding officer had been abruptly called away to a meeting so you had an hour off until lunch time. Around the camp you could see various companies training for battle, and you could tell which CO was the hardest on his men just from the sheer volume of his yelling. You swore you could see the vein in his neck from across the field as he screamed at his men who were stood perfectly at attention.

It had been a week since you arrived and you still hadn’t gotten used to the Georgian heat, you had started training to be an air force mechanic further up North where the temperature was more preferable but you’re whole squad had been moved to camp Toccoa and there was nothing you could do about it. You had been told to read over the manuals they had given you at the start of training but you had already read it cover to cover five times, so you were sat out in the sun enjoying a copy of one of your favourite Shakespeare plays, Much Ado About Nothing.

During times like this you needed a little comedy in your life, and though Shakespeare may be long gone he certainly had a way with words like no other. You wished you had packed more to bring with you when you left home, you had an entire collection next to your bed at home and you could still remember all your favourite passages. At school you had to study his plays in your English class and you had fallen in love, doing your best to get your hands on as many of his plays as you could, it was just a shame that no one else seemed to like his work. They always found it boring, or too hard to understand, but the way the words flowed made perfect sense to you.

You had been sat close to the tent they served food in, and you could smell lunch almost cooked. It wasn’t the most appealing of aromas but you were starving and anything would do though you usually waited for most of the men to take their place inside first so you didn’t have to deal with them queuing up with you.

Soldiers began to trickle inside as they were let go for lunch but you paid them no mind. In the past week most of them had gotten used to having you around camp and now mostly left you alone, you only looked up when a shadow blocked the light on your page. “Can I help you?” you asked, squinting up at the figure.

“Is that Shakespeare?” the man asked, an excited lilt in his voice.

You nodded slowly, “Yeah. Why?”

“I love Shakespeare,” he shifted and you could now see his face. He was fairly tall, had a strong jaw line and bright blue eyes.

You smiled, “Yeah, me too.”

“You getting lunch?” he asked, when you nodded he offered his hand, you took it and he hoisted you up. “So, what’s your name?”

“Y/N Y/L/N. You?”

“David Webster,” he replied with an easy smile. You joined the back of the line and quickly grabbed the food that was meant to be a sandwich and took a place together on a bench near the back of the tent that was empty. “What do you do around here?”

“Air force mechanic. What about you?”

“I’m a private in Easy Company.”

You chewed on your sandwich, “That the one always running up the hill.”

He let out a long suffering sigh and nodded. You chuckled, “Sucks to be you.”

Another soldier walked past, you recognised him as one from a different company who didn’t approve of you being around camp. “Women should be at home, you know, or in the kitchen. Why don’t you go make me some seconds,” he taunted.

“Go away, asshole,” you shoved him away, he stumbled but laughed to himself as he walked away to join his friends. You glared at his retreating form, used to his remarks by now, and bit angrily at your sandwich.

Webster had his eyebrows raised in shock at the encounter, “I can see he’s not in your good books.”

“No, and if he were I would burn my library,” you retorted without thinking, a smirk coming to your face when you realised what you had said. It took it a second for it to click in Webster’s mind but when he did he laughed at the quote. “You like Shakespeare then, Web? What’d you do before you came here?”

“English Literature at Harvard.” You let out a low whistle and he blushed slightly, “You?”

“A guy in my town went to university to take English and he sort of tutors me. I didn’t have enough money to go myself,” you shrugged. Webster felt bad, guilty that he had more than enough money for these things but you didn’t seem to be bother by it so he pushed the thoughts aside. “So, what are your favourite Shakespeare plays?”

—

David,

They have us doing full checks on the C-47’s at this camp, I think the invasion may happen soon, but I’m sure you knew that already. Us mechanics have been split into two groups, who goes with the pilot and who stays to cross over at a later date. I’m going in with the pilot so I might see you over there, wherever it is they decide to drop us. Good luck and stay safe, remember your training and you’ll be fine.

Y/N

—

Y/N

We got the briefing. The jump is gonna happen in the next week and I’m terrified. Did I ever tell you I had the opportunity to be an officer, one of the ones behind a desk and safe from all this. I turned it down because I wanted the experience of being a foot soldier, for my book, which I now regret. What if I don’t make it out of the plane? What if I land in the middle of an enemy camp? There’s so many things that could go wrong I feel I might explode if I think about it. You better stay safe as well.

David

—

David,

Don’t be an idiot. You’ll get dropped in the DZ with the rest of your company who’ll have your back. Everything will work out okay. Screw your courage to the sticking place, god dammit. I trust that you’ll make it through. Believe me when I say you’ll be okay. Besides, I’ll be over there to keep an eye out for you.

Y/N

—

Operation Market Garden was a failure and everyone knew it and it hadn’t even begun yet. You had been sent in to gather up and fix some army trucks that had been left behind in a retreat, the enemy had since moved out so it was only a quick in an out mission with the other mechanics in your squad. You had internally complained that they had you getting trucks not planes but this is what you had been trained to do, so do it you did.

You managed to salvage the trucks and bring them back to HQ where you could really work on the engine. You were deep in the engine when you heard the gravel crunch behind you, you didn’t expect to hear the voice you did, “Y/N?”

You spun around and your face lit up as you saw your friend, “Web! What are you doing here?”

“Passing through, gonna take a town later today they say. Just stocking up on some ammo.”

“Well good luck,” you couldn’t keep the smile off your face after not seeing your closest friend for so long.

Someone called for him to hurry up and he gave you an apologetic smile and you waved him off and let him go, as he walked back to join his company you couldn’t help but notice how he had filled out a bit more and the scruffy look he was now sporting only added to his looks. For the first time since you had met you actually felt attracted to him, wanted him for something more than friendship.

You quickly stopped your thought track and buried yourself back into working on the engine. You couldn’t think of him like that, especially in the middle of a war. 

—

“Are you Y/N Y/L/N?” a young private came up to you the next day.

“Yeah, why?” you asked with a small frown.

“You’ve been requested in the med bay. By a private David Webster.”

Your eyes widened, “Is he okay?”

The private nodded, “Yes. This way miss.”

You followed after him to the med bay where you quickly spotted Webster propped up on one of the beds. “What happened?” you rushed over to him.

“Got shot in the leg. Can you believe I said ‘they got me’ when it happened?”

You smirked at him, “What would Shakespeare think?” you shook your head at him in mock disapproval and he grinned. “When will you get back on your feet?”

“I don’t know,” he grimaced as he shifted in the bed, “Not for a while I don’t think.”

You bit your lip, “At least you get a bit of a break. I’m sure you’ll be better in no time.”

You stayed with him as long as you could, trying to ignore the jolts your stomach made when he looked at you with his dazzling blue eyes. When one of the nurses kicked you out you promised to come back when you next got the chance but you and your squad got moved out that night and you didn’t have a chance to say goodbye in person.

—

David,

I’ve lost track of where they’ve been carting me around. My life is one engine after the other and I get not time to just sit down and read a good play. It’s amazing I can find time to write this. I hope your leg is doing better. Are you back with your company yet?

Y/N

—

Y/N

Not yet. I can only just about hobble on my leg. The nurses say it could be another couple of weeks before I can leave the hospital. I understand your frustration though here the problem is I have too much time and too little to do. I feel I may die here from boredom alone, if I ever make it back to combat I may go down there (with yet another horrendous cliche line as my last words). I sometimes think I might actually die a bachelor, which based on the marriage suitors my parents have suggested in the past it may be preferable. I yearn to see the lines again. My book won’t consist of much if I’m waiting here, but alas, I can’t walk away. Literally.

David

—

David

Sorry to hear your legs still in a bad way. Don’t worry, I get the feeling you’ll live to see the end of the war. Try and rest the leg as much as possible and listen the the nurses.

Y/N

—

The war was over. You couldn’t believe it. It was over. You could go home.

You had kept in contact with Webster through the months, though letters didn’t come frequently as the mail delivery was slow and you rarely had the time to write back. Still, you knew about him rejoining easy company and being treated as an outcast until he was finally accepted again, you knew about Landsberg and you knew he was now on his way home.

You had volunteered to stay back in Europe for a while, keep tabs on the vehicles and fix them up as much as you could to see if any of them could still be used or go into displays. You still kept sending letters to David and they came each week now, he had invited you to stay at his place when you returned home and you had eagerly accepted.

After all this time your feelings for him hadn’t diminished. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and it was no different for you. You just didn’t want to go home just yet, you craved the routine and stability being in the air force brought you but soon it came to the point where they sent you home.

The boat ride was long and arduous, though the rocking isn’t what made you feel sick. It was the thought of returning home and not have anyone recognise you, or you not recognise them. It had been close to three years since you last saw your friends and family, and a lot had changed in that time.

—

When you had returned to America you and David had helped each other out. Now living together your feelings for one another quickly escalated until they burst. It had been long coming, since camp Toccoa, since Holland. You couldn’t place when it happened but you knew you loved him with all your heart and you knew he loved you just the same.

Together you slowly readjusted to civilian life. You were there whilst he wrote his book and went off onto the sea. He was there as you got a job you liked doing. You were there for each other in the night when you woke from another nightmare. And you were there for each other when things didn’t go to plan.

You stuck together through everything. It had been an instant yes when he got down on one knee, some three years after the war ended.

—

The wedding was in a week. You were strangely calm. You had seen your friends and family members all freak out at this point but you felt content, this was what was right. You and David lay on the couch together, basking in the soft sunlight that trickled past the curtains and onto you. “Remember years ago in that letter, I said I might die a bachelor?” he asked, his voice quiet and silky in your ear.

You hummed in acknowledgement, you had kept and reread all of his letter during the war and you still knew all of them off by heart. “Yeah,” you whispered.

“Well, when I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married.”

“You getting cold feet?” you teased.

You felt him smile against the back of your neck and he pressed a soft kiss there. “No, quite the opposite. I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to to protest.”

You smiled and rolled in his arms to face him, “Love me!..why?” you played along.

“When you depart from sorrow abides, and happiness takes his leave,” he replied smoothly and you could help but blush. Even after all this time.

“Sap,” you fondly rolled your eyes and leant in to kiss him. This is where you belonged. Next to the man who shared your love of Shakespeare, and could make you feel safe with a single touch. There was no place you would rather be.

***


End file.
